I’ve come to the realization that mottling is just not something I’ll ever be able to do to the standard I’d like. I was working on two babies (Liam May and Sweetpea asleep) tried mottling on them and to put it the way my mother did, they both ended up looking like they had measles and are now waiting to be stripped.
I’m just too much of a heavy handed person to mottle.
So, do you think a baby can still look realistic enough without mottling? I know babies don’t all have visible mottling, but it does seem to be a favored addition to a reborn. I’m lucky in the sense that the only person I have to please with my babies is me since I’m keeping all of them, but I’d hate to feel like I was just making pretty dolls rather than lifelike babies. Is there any way I can maybe achieve a similar lifelike look with another technique than mottling?
I would just keep practicing with different consistencies to your mottle mix. You may be mixing it too dark. It takes a little to get it to the consistency that works. Most reborns look kind of flat without at least some mottle (even if very light). The mottle along with the blue undertones is what adds a look of depth and translucency to the skin.
Maybe you could try this. If you end up putting the mottling on too dark or heavy. Let it flash off, and then take a clean wedge that has been moistened (not saturated) with thinner, and then blot the mottling, let that dry, and if you need to go over it again, you can repeat that step. I’ve done that before. I made the mottle darker on purpose because it wasn’t showing up well at first. Then I just blotted it until it looked natural and not too heavy.
You could try modeling and thin layers and only doing the number of layers or the colors that you want to do. I posted a step-by-step of my progress on Reese recently and there’s even a post in there where I talk about him looking like he has the measles LOL.
Also it may look very vibrant but it will start blending in as you do more layers. My Ashley’s red mottle got really really red. I think I let most of it but added mottles of mint and flesh to break it up a bit. She ended up looking perfectly preemie
Yes they can look real without mottling. Not every baby has mottling my boys didn’t and I think JMO that sometimes mottling can really be over done and over rated. Do paint the way you want not how others do, its your artistic interpetation no one elses and have fun above all.
Thank you all for the tips and advice, it’s all very much appreciated I think I’m going to get some spare limbs to keep practising on, but for now any babies I paint will be mottle-less.
You should do what you like. I personally like mottled babies, but some people don’t like it all that much. Especially if you’re just making dolls for yourself, if you like it, go for it!
If mottling always turns out too dark and you’d still like to have some on here, try thinning the paint more and putting extra layers/washes of paint over the mottling to tone it down a bit.
️
I think I’m going to get some spare limbs to keep practising on, but for now any babies I paint will be mottle-less.